Mixing Metallics

Think you can’t wear silver and gold together? Wrong! Take a look at this cover of JLo, who makes it look flawless. Now, granted, a stylist put this together, but let’s break down the look for a minute. First of all, you notice the pants – high-waisted with brownish/gold buttons. Now, you’d think only gold jewelry would go good with this. But, notice she is wearing a bold colored corset. This top ends up taking most of the attention away from the focus of anything else. Therefore, she has the freedom to wear more pieces of jewelry, as well as multi-metallic jewelry because both silver and gold go with this bright coral top.

Another option you have is to wear a lighter (or more subdued, darker color) on the top, so that you can play around with your jewelry options.  In that case, I would suggest having one bold statement piece, since the rest of your outfit would be rather tame. For example, you can wear the JLo sailor pants, a white button shirt, with minimal gold bracelets and a bold, turquoise and gold necklace, as shown below. (I found this on http://cayetanolegacy.com/index.php for $129). Statement necklaces are all the rage right now, so whether you mix your metallics or if you go for one bright color, you can play around with what makes you feel sassy.

The other great thing about mixing metallics is that a silver and gold mix goes with all skin tones. You may want to wear more of one over the other based on your liking, but again, that’s up to you. The point is to make your fashion choices your own!! Work, work it girl!

Homemade Recipe/Ingredient of the Week: Honey!

     Moisturizing Face Masks:

      1. Honey + Avocado: Put one large, pitted and peeled avocado in a blender with a tablespoon of honey; Pat onto face and keep on for 20 minutes and rinse with warm water.

      2. Honey + Greek Yogurt + Olive Oil: Mix the Honey, Yogurt and Olive oil together, place in fridge for an hour then apply on your face for half an hour, then wash.

      3. Honey + Egg Whites: Beat an egg white until stiff. Add one teaspoon of honey. Stir together and fluff onto your face; After 30 minutes, splash off with cold water

      Moisturizing Hair Mask: 

      Honey + Olive Oil: Mix honey and olive oil and place in hair for 30 minutes for a natural moisture-packed hair mask.

      Body Scrub:  

      Honey + Olive Oil + Brown Sugar: Mix all together and lather it in the shower so you don’t make a mess!

      Lip Scrub:  

      Honey + Olive Oil + Sugar + Lemon: Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, then massage it into your lips. The sugar/rub part is what you should be using to scrub, while you can apply the juice of the scrub to let it sit on your lips for a bit. The lemon juice has properties to help lighten the skin (but it's not immediate and you can skip this step if you want either way). I've used this recipe without the lemon and it still gives excellent results. 

 Don’t sleep on homemade recipes – the Egyptians and Romans all had gorgeous skin for a reason – they used the natural ingredients that they had available and used them for all of their healing properties. I LOVE these masks - they are all sooo silky and leave your face smoother than a baby’s bottom.  Not to mention, it gives your face tons of good oils that is necessary to keep the moisture in your face balanced, therefore giving you that natural ‘glow’ we all crave. 

Favorite Face Masks

      Here are a few of my tried and true face mask favs. Feel free to add to the list!! 

      1.  Lush, Brazened Honey– Rating = 5 (see 2/2/12 post) What isn’t to love about this natural mask that smells just as awesome as it feels?

      2.   Bliss, Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing Face Mask – Rating = 5:  Feels fresh and leaves skin feeling supple, not dry in the least.

      3.  Borghese, Fango Mineral-Enriched Active Mud – Rating = 4.5:  I love the consistency of this mask, especially when you put it on; it feels very luxurious. Once you’ve washed it off with a warm washcloth (after it’s dried on your face), your skin will feel soft and hydrated.  It even brightens and tones my skin too a bit.

      4.  Proactiv Solution, Refining Mask – Rating = 3.5:  This is a great spot treatment product but not as an all-over face mask. It’s way too drying.

      5.  Boots No. 7, Advanced Renewal Glycolic Peel Kit – Rating = 3: I don’t really find this as great as everyone makes it out to be, but I wanted to include it on ‘My Favorite Face Masks’ post because it’s been a really popular one and I wanted to address it. I’ve had to play around with the amount I use and the length of time I leave it on my face (they suggest 3-4 pumps and five minutes, but I’ve tried 5-8 pumps + up to 10 minutes and nada). I would have gone down another half a point if it didn’t have so much ‘good stuff’ for my skin, so for now, I’m going to pretend that it helps even just a bit, since I really do love this brand and they usually have really well-formulated products. I don’t use it that often either, so maybe that’s another reason it doesn’t work so well for me.

      6.  Soap & Glory, Scrub Your Nose In It – Rating = N/A (I haven’t tried it yet). I’m adding it to this list in case anyone else wants to try it before me (I’m going to Sephora to get it). I heard about this from another beauty blogger who swears by it.  Apparently it doubles as a face mask and scrub.  I looked up the ratings and it has a cult following. I will let you know how it goes!

Next post will be about all-natural DIY face masks…stay tuned! I have some good old-fashioned family secrets to dish out! 

Vaseline? For What? (Get Your Mind Out of the Gutter!)

So I’ve gotten a request to talk about how Vaseline is supposedly wonderful for your face (and all your other ‘bits’, as my man likes to call them), and how it seriously keeps you looking young way into your old lady days. I’ve used it for years on my lips (don’t make that dirty) before I go to bed and I wake up with soft, supple lips (just don’t do any kissing afterward).

I keep reading that women think that using Vaseline on your face is an old wives tale, and even though my grandma was the one who told me to start using it, I’m here to tell you it works. One woman’s review said, and I quote “JESUS IN A BOTTLE”. LOL. Well, I guess that means it works.

I did a little research and here’s what I’ve found as other uses of Vaseline that we may not know about:

1.  Use it to Seal in Your Moisturizer – at night, do your regular face care routine – face wash, (toner if you use it), serum (if and when you use it – you should), moisturizer, then use a thin layer of Vaseline (please don’t glob it on) to lock everything in. You really can just use it as it’s own moisturizer because it acts as a natural barrier for your skin, therefore letting your skin do it’s thing at night. Either way, use it for a week and see how you like it.

2.  Use it on Your ‘Bits’

- Rub it all over your feet and put socks on – sleep with them on overnight and in the am, your feet will be super soft!

- Rub it on your knuckles, knees, elbows and lips (all of your crackly bits will thank you).

3.  Use it as an Undereye Cream – many women have claimed that using Vaseline under the eyes will keep them moisturized and therefore supple much longer than any other fancy cream. I’m trying this trick tonight.

4.  Mix it with Natural Oils for a Moisturizing Mask – mix Vaseline with coconut oil or olive oil and leave it on the skin before bed. Get a washcloth dipped in warm water (not hot! I don’t care how good it feels!) and wipe off any excess that hasn’t seeped into your face. Guaranteed, your face will feel like a baby’s bum (I used to do this as a teenager with a friend who had awesome skin – I don’t know why I haven’t been doing this religiously!)

5. Use it Anywhere! – all the reviews I’ve read have been women using it for a multitude of purposes, including a thicker all-over moisturizer for the winter to put on their arms, legs, neck and chest (one woman said it helped take away the ‘crepiness’ of wrinkles that was her neck area).

I say let’s let go of our preconceived notions of this product and give it a go. It’s cheap ($4 for a huge tub at Target) and it lasts forever. Use it tonight and leave your reviews here – I want to know what you all think!

To Headpiece or Not to Headpiece?

Now, as most of you know, I’m bout to get married (well, in 6 months)! For the life of me, I can’t decide whether or not to wear a hairpiece. Here’s the deal – I hate tiaras – with a passion. I think they look silly and make women look like little girls on a day when they are transitioning into a new phase of their womanhood. I do however, love, love, love sparkly, glamorous headpieces.  I really want to wear one and I found this amazing piece online by an Austrailian designer, Johanna Johnson: take a look at the pictures. One is a picture from the magazine, the other is in ‘real’ lighting on a ‘regular’ woman – and it looks super cheap.  

Details of my look:

Here is what my dress looks like: (no pics in case Shahin comes across this post :) Mermaid silhouette, sweetheart neckline, rouching all the way down. Hair: in a soft updo, and will put my hair down (long and wavy) for the reception. I plan on wearing long, dangly earrings, and a cuff bracelet. The only issue is that I want to wear a headpiece during the ceremony and/or the reception. But, from pictures I’ve seen of brides with hairpieces, they look…meh. It either looks too ‘sweet’ (I’m going for sultry) or it just looks like they’re trying too hard (i.e., they are tiara-esque). Even smaller hair combs seem to be too conservative-looking. I need others’ opinions on this, because I’m not yet convinced one way or another.  Anyone have any suggestions or ideas?  (Here’s what I mean when I talk about sultry v. sweet (Eva v. Charlize, respectively)):

Lush Face Masks are Luscious!

So far, I’ve only tried the one – Brazened Honey (Lush, $8 with tax) and I’m in love.  This stuff is like heaven on earth. The first time I tried this mask, I asked the girls at Lush which of there (many) masks would give me a brightening effect. Well, not only did it brighten my face, it left it silky soft and feeling super fresh. It’s one of their most popular masks because it’s a deep cleansing mask (and it smells so damn good)!

How to use: Wash face and pat dry. Slather it on your face (it will be cold so it will give you an ‘Ooh’ sensation at first); let it dry for 10-15 minutes. I rinse it with warm water and then put on a face serum and moisturizer to get all the benefits of my products while I sleep (which is why I use masks at night).  You can get about 5 uses out of this one, which to me is worth the price.

They get a new shipment in every Thursday, so definitely try and get it then because that’s when these masks are the most fresh (you can get the most use out of them - 3 weeks from the Thursday they come in). Also, you have to refrigerate it because the ingredients can go bad – eggs, lime juice, ginger, honey, and some other ‘active’ stuff.  Unfortunately you can’t buy this online because it needs to be fresh, but that’s really the only downside. 

Let me know if you’ve tried any of their other masks so I know which one to get next!